The Lakers Made A Statement With A Blowout Win Over Portland In Game 2 Of Their First-Round Playoff Series
The Lakers finally arrived at the NBA bubble.
A skeleton version of the team that dominated the Western Conference through March had been going through the motions at Walt Disney World the last six weeks.
But the team made a dramatic entrance amid whispers of an early exit, winning Game 2 of their first-round playoff series against the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday, 111-88.
It was the Lakers' first playoff win since May 18, 2012.
LeBron James set the tone before the game even began.
"He didn’t say one word to me today," Anthony Davis said.
Davis went on to have a 21-point first-half performance on nine-for-13 shooting. He finished with a game-high 31 points on 13-for-21 shooting and 11 rebounds through three quarters, nearly doubling his field goal efficiency (61.9 percent) from Game 1 when he shot 33.3 percent in the Lakers' 100-93 loss.
Davis acknowledged he was discouraged after Tuesday's upset.
James helped shift things.
"I was really down on myself after Game 1," Davis said. "I didn’t feel like I performed to the level I needed to. And he let me have my moment and kind of get on myself. And then he talked to me and said I was fine. He said it’s one game. And as a guy who’s won multiple championships and been in these situations before, he knows what to expect. He knew what to expect from his teammates. And he kind of just was there for me to kind of encourage me and keep me levelheaded."
It worked.
The Lakers led by as many as 33 points and never trailed after the first two minutes.
They took control behind a swarming defense that bottled up superstars Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, who combined for just 31 points. To put that in perspective, Lillard alone averaged 37.6 points over the team's eight seeding games, scoring 51, 61 and 42 points over the team's final three contests.
The Trail Blazers had a bit of a scare with 1 minute and 44 seconds left in the third quarter when Lillard tried to poke the ball away from Davis, and then grabbed his left hand wincing in pain. Lillard sustained a dislocated left index finger, but the team said his X-rays were negative.
The series is now tied and the Lakers reminded the Trail Blazers -- and the rest of the league -- what they're capable of.
Oh, and they finally made some three-pointers.
A franchise playoff record 14 of them in 38 tries to be exact, eclipsing their previous high of 13 on May 8, 2010. Sure, their 36.8 percent clip wasn't staggering by any means, but it was a welcome change from the 15.6 percent they shot in Game 1.
Davis was three-for-four from beyond the arc. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope made four of his six attempts. And JR Smith added three from that distance.
James said he was never worried about the Lakers' shooters.
"Never a doubt in my mind," James said. "And we still didn’t shoot the ball extremely well tonight. We had some go in. But I feel like we’re gonna get it going at some point where everyone is shooting it in."
The Lakers' win was even more impressive considering James finished with just 10 points on four-for-11 shooting, his fewest points in a playoff win over his 17-season career.
"Tonight it didn’t cause for me to do much offensively or force much because not only AD had it going, but we had our shooters going as well, and our bench came in and just gave us a huge lift," James said. "Every game has its own challenges, and tonight AD was magnificent and KCP was amazing as well."
After the game, James was asked where Davis ranks among all of his teammates.
He said at the top.
"I’ve had some great teammates in my career," James said. "AD is one of those unicorns and he does things that some of my other great teammates are not capable of doing. In the same sense, I played with Dwyane Wade and he could do some things that AD is not capable of doing. And I also played with Kyrie Irving, and he did some things that AD and D Wade are not capable of doing. So I’ve had the luxury of playing with some great players and that’s just three of them."
For Davis, James made all of the difference in his confidence leading into Game 2.
But that's nothing new.
He's been doing that for Davis all year.
"I never played with a guy of his caliber, and to be able to have the success that we’re having so far is great," Davis said. "And he’s just been staying in my ear about everything, especially through the playoffs right now."
After praising his mentor, Davis couldn't help but add a loving dig.
"He’s seen it all in the 25 years he’s been playing," Davis said of the 35-year-old.
